


do not swear by the moon for she changes constantly

by shairiru



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mythology, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-13
Updated: 2016-03-13
Packaged: 2018-05-26 12:54:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6240181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shairiru/pseuds/shairiru
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tobio doesn't care about eclipses. Nor does he care about strangers popping up in the woods. But he finds himself caring about both soon enough.</p>
            </blockquote>





	do not swear by the moon for she changes constantly

 

-

 

The sun is about to set and Tobio has yet to find his way back. He has never been good with directions, and now he’s regretting chasing that wild goose deep within the woods. Not only is he lost, he also has nothing to bring back home. Despite having lived in the mountains since he was a kid, Tobio never liked the woods very much and stayed far from it if he can. But he is getting older and his folks are expecting him to be able to hold up on his own.

 

He tries to retrace his steps, remembering that there are a lot of mango trees on his way downhill. However, he realizes soon enough that most of the woods are filled with mango trees and it is pointless to use them as a reference. In his frustration, he kicks a nearby tree and regrets it almost as soon as he did it. He screams in pain and falls on the ground, clutching his foot close.

 

“Why in the world would you kick an innocent tree?”

 

Tobio looks up at the source of the voice and finds a stranger standing before him, his hands resting on the trunk of the tree protectively. He’s never seen him before; blond hair, gold eyes, fair skin, bare feet, and an angry frown. The stranger dons a loose white shirt and plain brown pants.

 

“Why do you care?” Tobio spats, sitting up from his position. The pain has more or less subsided, but it’s still there, making his toes throb.

 

“Would you fancy getting kicked too without any particular reason? What would you feel if I kick you right now?”

 

“What did you say?” Tobio stands up, closing the distance between him and the stranger, rolling his sleeves up. 

 

“My, my, what violent creatures you humans are.” The stranger sneers, narrowing his eyes at him. They seem to glow in the approaching dusk. “You’d think twice talking to me like that if you knew I know the way out of this woods. Aren’t you lost?”

 

“I’d rather find the way myself, thank you.” Tobio steps away and retrieves his satchel. The sky is a dark blue now and the sun is out of sight. Cold wind blows and he shivers. Then, what the stranger said to him finally registers. “ _ Humans _ ? Aren’t you-”

 

But when he turns around, the stranger is nowhere in sight. Tobio knows there are no such things as ghosts, but the hairs on his back stand up.   _ He couldn’t have ran that fast? _ Tobio looks around but sees or hears no sign of the stranger he has just encountered. It’s already night time, the waxing crescent of the moon starting to rise from the east. 

 

Brushing away his fears, Tobio struggles to find his way back.

 

-

 

Tobio is extra cautious the next day when he ventures into the woods, both from wild geese and a certain blond-haired stranger. If he actually thought about it, there is something eerie about that person. He never heard of stories about ghosts and lost spirits in their area, however. There must be a more reasonable explanation for this.

 

He reaches the spring soon enough. He dips his hands into it and drinks the cool, crisp water he always looks forward returning to. After he has cooled down, he proceeds to grab the bucket he brought with him and-

 

He grabs on empty air.

 

“Where in the-” He turns around sharply, finding the spot where he left his bucket empty. However, there stands the stranger he met yesterday, holding his bucket in his hands.

 

“I’m surprised you found your way home last night.”

 

“Give me that!” Tobio reaches for the bucket but the boy raises it up higher in the air.

 

“Let me.” He sits next to Tobio and dips the bucket into the spring. He looks like he is enjoying himself and Tobio finds the whole ordeal really weird.

 

“What do you need from me?” 

 

“Nothing.” The bucket gets filled and he raises it from the water, putting it next to Tobio. “There you go.”

 

“Are you a ghost?”

 

The boys snorts, looking at him as if Tobio just said the world is flat. “Do I look like a ghost to you?”

 

“Well, you disappeared suddenly last night.”

 

“Why don’t you see for yourself?” The boy stretches his arm out towards him. “Touch me.”

 

Tobio reaches out tentatively, poking his hand with a finger. It is very much real and warm. He was expecting his finger will pass through thin air. He’s still unconvinced though, and so he reaches out one more time and touches his cheek instead. It feels smooth and almost porcelain-like against his own calloused palms.

 

“Still thinking I’m a ghost?”

 

Tobio removes his hand and keeps it to himself. “That doesn’t explain how you disappeared so quickly.”

 

“Let’s just say it was my time to go at that moment. I don’t think your mind can handle if I explained everything to you right now.” The boy grins mysteriously at him. “Why don’t I show you later how?”

 

“Why don’t you show me right now?”

 

“Because,” he rolls his eyes, “It’s something that is related with time. Meet me here again before sunset if you really want to know.”

 

\- 

 

When Tobio was six, his mother warned him about talking with strangers and that he may not, in whatever situation, go somewhere with one. Tobio is currently eighteen and doing the exact same thing. He tells himself it’s fine, the stranger doesn’t look like harmful at all. Which reminds him that he actually still has no idea what name to call that boy.

 

He finds him sitting on a huge boulder at the middle of the spring, throwing pebbles into the water. He still is as barehanded as he was yesterday and there is some sort of innocence on his face, that is, until he looks up and sees Tobio approaching. Then, his lips turn up to a sly smile.

 

“You actually came!”

 

“So?” Tobio remains on the edge of the spring, crossing his arms over his chest. “What’s the big secret?”

 

“Patience, human. The sun is still up.”

 

“Why are you calling me  _ human _ ? Are you not?”

 

“No,” he answers without any hesitation, almost proud even. “What do you want me to call you?”

 

“...Tobio.” He takes a step back, suddenly doubting his decision of coming here.

 

“No need to be afraid... _Tobio_. I’m not going to hurt you.”

 

“How about you? What am I supposed to call you?”

 

“Huh. I haven’t thought of that.” He strokes his chin in thought. “How about Kei? That’s a pretty simple name you wouldn’t forget.”

 

“Did you just think of your name, right now?”

 

“Yes. Hey, look, it’s time.”  _ Kei _ points at the sky, the orange streaks of the sunset almost completely gone. “Watch closely, alright?”

 

“What do I-” 

 

Tobio suddenly loses all words as light starts gathering around Kei quickly, cold wind blowing around them. And then, Kei shoots up to the sky like fireworks and he had to shield his eyes from the glare. When he looks up again, the waxing crescent moon is up, glowing against the dark blue sky.

 

-

 

“You’re the moon” was Tobio’s first words when he sees Kei the next morning. He finds him on the spring, throwing pebbles at it yet again.

 

“Just a few days ago, yes.” He stands from where he’s sitting and walks towards Tobio’s side. “I’m kind of new to the job but it’s fine. Being a moon is natural to me. It’s the  _ being human _ part during the day which I’m clueless about.”

 

“A few days ago? Hasn’t been the moon always up there?”

 

“A new moon is born every time a total lunar eclipse happens.” Tobio stares at him blankly. “You do know a lunar eclipse, don’t you?”

 

“Of course I know what a lunar eclipse is! I just have no idea when it happens.”

 

“Well, one did a few days ago.”

 

Tobio is still deciding if it’s the Earth that’s blocking the moon or it’s the moon that’s blocking the sun on a lunar eclipse when Kei grabs him by the wrist, surprising him. Kei’s eyes are wide with contained excitement. They do glow even in the daylight.

 

“Show me your village.” He smiles giddily like a child and Tobio can’t help how his stomach fluttered out of nowhere. “I’ve yet to explore one.”

 

-

 

“There’s a festival tonight.” Tobio says as they are spending their last few minutes together for the day by a river. They’ve been catching fishes the whole afternoon and are now cooking them over a fire that Tobio taught Kei how to make. “You should come and experience it for yourself.”

 

“Dumbass, did you forget? It’s still a waning crescent. Of course, I can’t come.”

 

“Oh, right.” Tobio purses his lips, feeling quite disappointed. He has been looking forward into dragging Kei around the festival. “Too bad it didn’t fall on a new moon.”

 

During new moons, Tobio found out that Kei doesn’t disappear at night. That phase they took advantage of the past three months, where Tobio showed Kei especially beautiful sights when the sun has already set at their place. Kei really liked the lake where tons of fireflies gather every night. He said they were like stars on the ground. They made it their new place.

 

“Just tell me everything in the morning.” He stands up, throwing the remains of his food into the fire. “I’ll have to go now.”

 

“See you tomorrow?”

 

“Of course.” Light gathers around Kei, and then he’s up in the sky. 

 

Tobio remains seated for a while, waiting for the fire to die out. He places a hand over his chest while doing so, willing for his racing heart to calm down.

 

“

 

Kei is very much happy to see the haul Tobio got for him from last night’s festival. There are variety of food items he hasn’t tried before. Tobio got him a sun mask which symbolizes the sun deity they’re having a festival over. Kei eagerly wears it, the mask covering the upper half of his face.

 

“Well? What do you think?”

 

“You look better without it, though,,” Tobio answers absent-mindedly, and only when he notices Kei’s cheeks flush does he realize what he said. “I mean, you know...you’re the moon...it’s not…” he flails his hands in the air, trying to come up with an explanation on why he just said the things he said. In the end, he groans frustratedly. “You get what I mean.”

 

When Kei removes the mask, his eyes glow even brighter, his lips curved up in a small smile. “Maybe.”

 

-

 

It’s been weirder after that. But pleasantly so.

 

Their times together have been quieter but more sincere. Gone are the days when Tobio feels annoyed whenever Kei teases him, and instead, he actually feels warm whenever Kei does it. His jabs are never meant to demean him in any way, it’s more of a natural part of their days now. It’s always a bit dispiriting whenever Kei has to leave for the night, but on new moons, they have more time together and for that, Tobio is very much grateful for. 

 

He lets Kei sneak into their house through his room’s window, and he shows him a glimpse of his earlier life when Kei was still not alive. The photo albums, the old notebooks, the broken toys, the collection of his doodles as a child that his parents kept. It’s embarrassing, really, but Kei tells him it’s adorable and so Tobio lets him rummage through his things.

 

And during those nights, they sleep together in his room, his single bed making the distance between them too close for his own good. He wonders if Kei can actually sleep at that condition, because Tobio sure cannot. All he can think about is how close Kei is and he’s afraid to touch him, lest he might disturb him or give him the wrong impression. But it is a nice feeling, the warmth they share underneath the blanket and the soft sound of their breathing he indulges in through the night.

 

(Tobio almost thinks it can go on forever like this.)

 

“Tobio,” Kei calls out to him one night. He’s at the brink of falling asleep when his voice brings him back to consciousness.

 

“Hm?”

 

“The lunar eclipse.”

 

“What of it?” Tobio opens his eyes and they meet Kei’s, glowing an amber yellow in the darkness of his room.

 

“You remember what it means, right?”

 

_ You disappear forever. _

 

“Why?”

 

“It’s coming soon.”

 

(Of course, it does not.)

 

-

 

They’re by the lake side by side, and there’s a silence in between them that is waiting to be filled. The fireflies hover lazily all over the lake, but somehow, it only made the scenery even sadder than it already is. The eclipse will happen tonight, Kei has told him earlier, and ever since, Tobio has felt dread. He knows every second counts, but what can he do?

 

“So,” Kei is the first one to break the silence, his voice tight. “Are we just not going to talk until I disappear?”

 

“No.” Tobio shakes his head. “No, I’m–I can’t.” He tries to get the words out but he finds it hard, not when his throat is burning and his eyes threaten to spill warm tears.

 

“I’m happy I knew you, Tobio. We started out on pretty bad terms but thank you. Not every moon gets the chance to live a life like this, no matter how short. Not every moon gets a chance to meet someone like you.”

 

Tobio’s heart aches at the words he hear. He decides that if he can’t say out loud the things he wanted to say, then he’d let his actions speak. He faces Kei and crawls on all fours towards him. He doesn’t break his gaze away when he cups Kei’s face between his hands. He waits for him to pull away, but Kei remains where he is and Tobio takes it as a good sign. He leans in closer, his blood pounding on his ears-

 

“We should stop,” Kei tells him, his voice shaky,  “whatever is this thing that we’re doing,” 

 

Tobio can feel Kei’s breath on his lips, and no, he doesn’t want to stop. Not here. Not now.

 

“Do you want to?”

 

“I’m not going to be around forever, Tobio.” He laughs bitterly. “I’ll be literally gone by the end of this night.”

 

“I know. Don’t you think it’s always been on my mind?” Kei’s eyes widen, their golden glow wavering. “But, I don’t want you to go without knowing how I feel about you. I can’t tell you before, but I’m saying it now. You’ve become very important to me, Kei.”

 

Kei thumbs his lower lip and looks at it wistfully. “When I’m replaced, I’d leave without any memories of this world. It’d be a peaceful death. But you,” he looks into his eyes, “You’d be left with memories of me. Of us. Do you really want that?”

 

“I’d rather have that than have nothing at all.”

 

To his surpise, it is Kei that leans in to close the remaining distance between them. Their lips meet, soft and warm and unsure. Tobio reaches for his face, weaves his fingers through his hair, rests his hands on the crook of his neck. He can feel Kei’s pulse beneath his fingers, and it’s beating just as fast as his heart. Kei drags his hand down Tobio’s chest and stops just above his heart. Together, they breathe, and they pull apart, resting their foreheads against each other’s. When Tobio opens his eyes, Kei is looking at him with a soft smile, the glow in his eyes the brightest he’s ever seen.

 

“I wish I wouldn’t have to forget that,” he says in a whisper, almost afraid to break the silence of the night.

 

Tobio takes his hands and weaves their fingers together. He commits to mind how soft his palms feel against his, how they fit together. He looks at his face and traces his jaw, burning his image to the deepest recesses of his heart. “I’ll make sure never to forget.”

 

Light starts to gather around Kei as if fireflies being drawn towards a single source. Tobio doesn’t let go of his hand, and neither does Kei. It starts to feel very warm. Tobio holds on tighter–

 

Then a flash–

 

The light dissipated and Tobio is holding on to thin air. The moon is full and bright on the night sky. He almost hopes the eclipse wouldn’t happen tonight, or that it would never happen at all. But after a few seconds, the moon starts to stain red. He can almost feel him slipping away, Kei’s existence being consumed by the shadow. 

 

Kei has told him it will take hours, and so Tobio lies down on the grass and looks up at the sky, trying to catch a last glimpse of Kei before he is completely gone.

 

-

 

When the eclipse is finally over and the full moon is bright and shining against the dark sky, Tobio knew right then that the moon he is looking at isn’t the same one that wanted to explore the world with him. It’ll never be the same moon again, but he makes sure to keep the memory of him alive.

 

**Author's Note:**

> after two years of shipping tsukikage, i finally made a fic for them ;~; please forgive me tsukikage for putting you off for the longest time T^T  
> and i'm sorry if i get things terribly wrong ;~;  
> title is from romeo and juliet! :)


End file.
